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Flaahgra
Flaahgra is an enormous mutated plant-like creature in Metroid Prime and is the main boss of the Chozo Ruins. Origin Flaahgra was likely once an ordinary plant, perhaps even a sacred one, as it had the honor of being the Chozo's centerpiece flower in their city's Sunchamber on Tallon IV. However, the destructive Phazon mutated it beyond all recognition, resulting in this monstrous beast. Flaaghra extended its vile roots to all corners of the Chozo Ruins, and began to secrete a poison which tainted the waters of the Ruins. The water was so toxic and corrosive that it dealt damage to Samus on contact, though it was completely cleansed the instant Flaahgra was defeated. Battle Flaahgra begins the battle with one solar panel active. If Samus can disable it with Missiles or Charge Beam shots, she can switch off the Mirror Arrays that give Flaahgra the sunlight from FS-176 that it needs to stay active and functional. The creature can use its scythe-like limbs to flip over the arrays that Samus has disabled to restore power to them if she is too slow to shut off all of them. When all solar arrays are shut off, Flaahgra will collapse and its four spiked Tentacles retract into the large flower's base, allowing Samus to enter Morph Ball-sized tunnels previously occupied by the Tentacles. Once she reaches a Morph Ball Slot located on the outer edge of the creature's base, she can Bomb it, causing damage not only to Flaahgra's central nervous system, but also igniting the flower with the surge of electrical energy. After the blow has been dealt, the upper body of the Flaahgra will writhe, wilt and retreat into the main flower. Seconds later, however, the solar panel(s) powering it will reactivate, plus an additional one (starting with one, with a maximum of all four panels being lit at a time), causing the Flaahgra to emerge a few seconds later, larger and angrier than ever. In terms of physical offense, Flaahgra can slash with its enormous scythe-like appendages, performing a brutal swipe or two each time it decides to do so. If Samus takes too long to reach the Bomb Slot inside one of the four tunnels, not only will she be pushed back out by one of the Tentacles, but Flaahgra will awaken (due to the reactivated solar panels) and furiously perform an almost 360-degree slash across the floor of the entire room. Each of Flaahgra's four Tentacles are covered with thorns and will flail at Samus if she gets near them. Its long range offense consists of spitting out small and large energy spheres. While the small ones are quickly spat out in different waves, the large energy sphere requires a moment to charge before being launched, though the process can be stopped if Samus shoots a Missile or Charge Beam shot at the creature's head. Flaahgra can also spray a substance that spawns a temporary wall of corrosive plants along the floor from the central pond to the nearest wall of the room. This wall occasionally proves impossible to jump over, hindering Samus' progress if she was on her way to a Mirror Array. Lastly, the central pond surrounding the boss is extremely toxic and acts as a defense in a fashion similar to a moat protecting a castle. It is from here that all the polluted water is distributed throughout most of the Chozo Ruins. Due to its exposure to the sun's concentrated energy, the outer shell of Flaahgra has become resilient enough to withstand harm from most weaponry, thus no matter how many shots are fired directly to the head and body, it will only be temporarily stunned, and can only be truly harmed by bombing its central nervous system. However, stunning its main body proves to be useful, as it not only allows Samus to disable the Mirror Arrays without being attacked, but also prevents Flaahgra from reactivating said Mirrors. After all four trenches have been bombed, the herbaceous monstrosity dies, and the Chozo Ruins' water supply returns to its normal, unpolluted state. Official data Official website ''"Flaahgra is a massive plant-based life-form with a snake-like body and powerful arms. It gains its strength from sunlight. The tentacles it uses to attach itself to the ground are also used to absorb water. The creature's mutated hydration system pollutes the water source with noxious excretions, creating the perfect environment for Flaahgra's growth and nourishment. Flaahgra is extremely territorial, and will viciously attack any intruders." Its central nervous system is located near its base, where sprawling tentacles are tightly affixed to the ground." Logbook entry Mike Sneath interview ]] Flaahgra is the first boss character that Andrew Jones concepted. This creature was a lot of fun to work on because Andrew did about five variations for the creature. There was the ‘core’ concept, but I ended up taking a few other details from the other variations Andrew created. Todd Keller created a concept for giant plant flower that Flaahgra sits inside of. The first version of this boss had all the tentacles as part of the plant. Later the designers decided to detach the tentacles and make them more part of the room like you see in the game. The room and creature sort of evolved together as the designers worked their way through how this boss character would play out. Beta An early animation reel of Flaaghra displays it in an open swamp, rather than the enclosed chamber where it is encountered in the final game. Trivia *Upon closer inspection of Flaahgra's head, green butterflies can be seen flying in close proximity to its mushroom structures. These can be seen when the boss collapses from lack of exposure to the sun's energy. *Before entering the Sunchamber, an unscannable pink Holobanner in Flaahgra's likeness can be seen. *The energy spheres Flaahgra fires, in particular the large variant, heavily resembles a charged Power Beam shot. It can be looked upon for closer inspection when the projectile hits the wall, as it will remain "stuck" for several seconds. *Flaahgra may have originally been a large Bloodflower before it was heavily mutated by Phazon, due to the similarities the boss shares with it, specifically Flaahgra's base resembling a Bloodflower, both plants having tentacle-like roots, and the fact that both spew toxic orbs. *In the original NTSC version of ''Prime, Flaahgra's theme was incorrectly shortened to only a third of its intended length. The full theme can be heard in the PAL and Japanese versions of Prime, and the Wii versions retain the full rendition of the theme. *If Samus Sequence Breaks by surviving the Magmoor Caverns without the Varia Suit, she can return and battle Flaahgra with a full arsenal. The Bomb Slots can be detonated with Power Bombs, and Flaahgra can also be damaged with the Wavebuster. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrCizsGR030&feature=related *Likewise, if Samus obtains the Space Jump before facing Flaahgra, she can detonate the Bomb Slots from the outside by space-jumping onto Flaahgra's platform and laying bombs before sliding off. *Flaahgra, along with the Parasite Queen, are the only major bosses in Metroid Prime that do not appear in Metroid Prime Pinball. *The massive sea beast Rastodon on the ocean world in chapter 6 of Metroid EX was similar to Flaahgra, although it poisoned an entire ocean and not just a spring. Despite this, destroying it also purified the water. *Jack Mathews joked that Flaahgra's name means "boss plant" in Aramaic.Mathews, Jack (jack_mathews). "Flaahgra is “boss plant” in Aramaic." 10 October 2018 6:47 p.m. Tweet. https://twitter.com/jack_mathews/status/1050140752217600000 *Flaahgra and it's corruption by Phazon is indirectly referenced in Dark Samus's Classic Mode route The Great Poison Given Form, more specifically the fourth battle, where she teams up with Ivysaur in a double-match. Gallery Image:Plant_boss_page.jpg|Concept art File:Flagra side head.jpg|Concept art File:Mprime 14 big.jpg|Official render File:Flaahgra.png|Official render Sunchamber flaahgra pod form dolphin hd.jpg|Flaahgra's slumbering form. Sunchamber flaahgra pod form toxic weeds dolphin hd.jpg|The creature sends toxic weeds in Samus' direction. Flaahgra weeds.jpg|Samus evades the weeds. Sunchamber flaahgra emerges dolphin hd.jpg|Flaahgra emerges Sunchamber flaahgra emerges 2 dolphin hd.jpg File:Flaahgrah.jpg|The Flaahgra emerges after two mirror arrays are active. File:Flaahgra_battle.jpg Sunchamber flaahgra projectile attack battle dolphin hd.jpg|One of the creature's projectile attacks. Sunchamber flaahgra stunned bomb slot dolphin hd.jpg|Samus plants a Morph Ball Bomb in one of the slots at the base of the creature's root system. Sunchamber flaahgra roars dolphin hd.jpg|Flaahgra returns, powered by multiple mirror arrays. Sunchamber flaahgra roars solar beam battle dolphin hd.jpg|Flaahgra charges a multiple-beam attack. Sunchamber flaahgra burning dolphin hd.jpg|The Flaahgra perishes in flames. Sunchamber flaahgra weed spasm dolphin hd.jpg|Toxic weeds appear then shrivel over the bud. Sunchamber flaahgra fountain purified dolphin hd.jpg|Purified water flows from the fountain. Flaahgra dead.jpg|Flaahgra is no more. File:Metroid-prime-3-7.jpg|Samus fighting Flaahgra in an earlier version of Prime (note the different energy meter and "Energy Low" message). UnusedFlaaghraScan.png|Unused scan images seen in concept art. File:Flaaghra Skull.png|Flaahgra's skull. References es:Flaahgra ru:Флаагра Category:Bosses Category:Characters Category:Flowers Category:Tallon IV Category:Chozo Ruins Category:Poisonous Flora, Fauna, and Fungi Category:Plantlife Category:Deceased Category:Mike Sneath Category:Andrew Jones Category:Todd Keller